


P.S. I Love You

by HelloRoseTyler



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), The Beatles
Genre: 1950s, 1960s, 1960s Music, F/M, Inspired by Music, Liverpool, London, Music, Musicians, New York City, TARDIS - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 08:06:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13383654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloRoseTyler/pseuds/HelloRoseTyler
Summary: The Doctor and Rose meet the Beatles... they think.





	1. I Saw Her Standing There

Rose winced as she pulled off her shoes and tossed them on the floor of the Tardis. She sat down on the jump seat with her legs straight in front of her, pointing and flexing as she had learned in ballet class so many years ago. “Well,” she started, “since we didn’t get to see Elvis, can you at least take me to see the Beatles now? You promised me a tour of Rock and Roll, and I haven’t seen anyone!” “Oy, you got to see Chuck Berry!” The Doctor protested. “I glanced at him for half a second while we were being chased by a giant moth!” Rose conjectured, but the Doctor continued. “And we saw Buddy Holly!” “On our way to _haunted house.”_ Rose emphasized the last two words with air quotes. “How was I supposed to know it wasn’t ghosts!” The Doctor said. “Because it’s always aliens,” Rose answered under her breath. He continued excitedly, “Which era then? Rough and tumble Cavern Club? Mop top Ed Sullivan? Ooooh, Sgt. Pepper? Abbey Road with all the beards?” “Mum always loved the beards,” Rose smiled. The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Let’s start at the beginning and work our way to the end,” Rose decided. The Doctor muttered as he punched in the coordinates on the console, “Humans, when will you learn that time is wibbly wobbly?” but Rose was already on her way to the Tardis closet for a costume change.

Rose reappeared in yellow mini dress with a white collar and buttons, white fishnets, and white gogo boots. She had teased her hair and flipped out the ends, and she topped off the look with yellow hoop earrings. “Too much?” She asked. The Doctor looked up. “Look at you all pink and very yellow!” He exclaimed. “Fashion forward; I’ll give you that, but I like it!” He winked. Rose smiled sheepishly before she noticed he had changed too. “And look at you!” She exclaimed. The Doctor could’ve passed for a 5th Beatle. He wore a plain black suit with a thin black tie and funny pointy toed boots. He flashed a massive grin and made for the door. He opened it and breathed in heavily. “Ah, sea air and chips! 1962, if I’m not mistaken.” The Tardis was parked on Mathew Street next to a bar called The Grapes. Ahead, Rose could see the sign for the Cavern Club. She stepped out of the Tardis and bumped right into someone exiting the bar very quickly. “Wotcha!” Rose yelled. The man grabbed her arm, steadying her. “You alright, love?” Rose looked up. Underneath a cloud of cigarette smoke was John Lennon himself. Rose nodded slowly, her eyes as wide as saucers. “You?” she croaked. “I feel fine!” John exclaimed, tipping an imaginary hat. He continued to the Cavern with a string of young girls following him, a few turning to glare at Rose.

The Doctor, grinning like an idiot, grabbed Rose’s hand and followed a few steps behind the crowd. Down, down, down into the Cavern they went, and, with each step, it got harder to hear anything besides rock and roll and see anything besides smoke.

“Some other guy now…” blared the speakers. Rose and The Doctor wiggled their way through the dense crowd, stopping to dance when they couldn’t get any closer. Actual dancing was nearly impossible in the sardine tin that was the Cavern, so they mostly just bobbed their heads and swayed as they watched the band play. “BACKSTAGE?” The Doctor yelled. “WHAT?” Rose yelled back. “BACK. STAGE.” The Doctor overemphasized. Rose nodded and off they went. A security guard stopped them, but, with a flash of the psychic paper, he opened the door. The backstage of the Cavern was no more than a closet, piled high with extra chairs and musical equipment. A man in a tweed jacket with elbow patches stood with his back to The Doctor and Rose tuning a guitar. Without turning around, he chided the security guard, “Not another reporter, Maxwell.” “No,” the Doctor started, “just fans. I’m The Doctor and this is Rose.” The man dropped the guitar on the floor. The dissonant sound of all the strings vibrating at once echoed far longer than usual. The man slowly turned around to reveal shaggy brown hair and a red bow tie. “Nice to meet you. I’m John Smith.”


	2. I've Just Seen a Face

“I know a John Smith or two!” The Doctor said with a wink to Rose, but Rose was still looking at the stranger. In fact, she was staring at him, and he was staring back. Their gaze was so intense it was making the Doctor quite uncomfortable. “Do you two know each other?” He finally huffed, but before either could answer Ringo busted through the back door.

Out of breath, visibly annoyed, and on the verge of tears, he called out (to no one in particular), “What the bloody hell is going on? We’re not supposed to go on for another hour! Is that Pete out there? Have they got Pete back?” The Doctor, John Smith, and Rose all looked at each other quizzically. “You’re Ringo.” Rose said. Ringo said nothing; instead, he held up his hands, adorned with all sorts of eclectic and kitschy rings, and wiggled his fingers. “But Ringo’s out there.” Rose said, pointing in the general direction of the stage. “Ah, pull the other one,” Ringo dismissed her and headed for the door that led into the Cavern. “Wait!” John Smith stopped him. “They’re finishing up now. We’ll settle this out of sight.” “I can see why Brian hired you,” Ringo scoffed.

Within seconds, John strolled through the door, saw Ringo, and stopped short. Paul ran into him. “You cheeky…” He laughed, about to scold John; however, upon seeing what John was looking at, he stopped talking and stood mouth agape. George ran into both of them. “Well, you two are very keen, aren’t you?” He said, but then he too saw Ringo. All three turned to face the door, where Ringo had just entered with Maxwell on his heels. Ringo looked at Ringo. Wide eyed and horrified, Ringo watched as the other Ringo turned into a massive red creature covered in what looked like suction cups. “A ZYGON!” The Doctor shouted excitedly. The Zygon turned to face The Doctor. Maxwell took the distraction as an opportunity to seize the creature, but the Zygon stunned him. He fell to the floor in a heap as three girls pushed their way through the backstage door… and turned into Zygons. “RUN!” The Doctor shouted. All four lads, Rose, John Smith, and The Doctor ran through the back entrance with the Zygons chasing them. What ensued Rose would later describe as a Scooby Doo chase, much to the confusion of all four Beatles.

The back entrance led straight into hallways that weaved through the many buildings around and above the Cavern. Rose, John Smith, and The Doctor followed as The Beatles led the way. “Do you know the way out of here?” John Smith called out. “We escape the girls this way!” Paul called back. “You don’t.” George chided quietly. “I knew Ringo sounded better tonight!” John teased. “Oh, bugger off.” Ringo shouted. “PEACE AND LOVE.” The other three taunted. The crew turned into a dead-end hallway. “Get back!” Paul shouted. They turned around, and, much to their relief, the Zygons hadn’t caught up with them yet. They were almost out of the labyrinth when George and Ringo tripped over each other and fell. As the Doctor and Rose stopped to help them up, the four Zygons appeared out of thin air. They were trapped, and the others were escaping without a clue. One of the Zygons grabbed Rose. “DOCTOR!” Rose called out. The Doctor looked at Rose, but she wasn’t calling for him. She wasn’t even looking at him. Ahead, John Smith turned around, flashed the goofiest of all grins, and pulled out a sonic screwdriver. He pointed it at the Zygon’s wrist. Sparks flew out of a strange looking bracelet and it dropped to the ground. One of the other Zygons grabbed their friend, and they all disappeared. “Vortex manipulator, and it’s linked to The Beatles’ timeline! But why?” The bowtied Doctor exclaimed. The Doctor looked at him in disbelief, “You’re me? From my future?” “But he’s our new roadie, John Smith,” Paul argued. The bowtied Doctor put his hand on Paul’s shoulder, “No, I am he and he is me.” “And we are all together,” John chimed in.


	3. Tell Me Why

Over a pint at The Phil, Rose explained the situation to The Beatles (and Maxwell, who was using his pint as a cold compress for the excruciating headache the Zygon’s stun had given him). She did her best, but even she didn’t quite understand their circumstances. She kept glancing at The Doctors, who were examining the vortex manipulator and squabbling over their next move. “Of course he would argue with himself,” she didn’t mean to say aloud. Rose was used to seeing the future by now, but it was odd for her to see the Doctor’s future. She wanted so badly to ask where her future self was, but something in his eyes told her she shouldn’t. 

“What do we call them then?” George asked. “It’s terribly confusing.” Paul added. “What about The Doctor and Doctor?” Ringo suggested. “He looks like a Robert,” John stated, matter of fact, as he pointed to the bowtied Doctor. “The Doctor and Doctor Robert!” The Doctors looked at John, then at each other, and smiled. “What’s the plan?” Rose asked. “From what we gathered, we think The Zygons have traveled to 1964.” The Doctor raised his eyebrow as a signal to Rose. Rose knew that 1964 was a very important year for the Beatles. Their poker faces didn’t go unnoticed. “What happens in 1964?” Paul asked. “Spoilers.” The newly coined Doctor Robert stated simply. He continued, “We need to get to the Tardis.” The Doctor agreed, “There are too many fixed points in this timeline. We can’t have the Zygons running amuck and interrupting them.” “Are we really that important?” John quipped sarcastically. “Spoilers.” The time travelers said in unison.

“We’ll have to take your Tardis. I was charging on the rift here. Thought I’d pop in on the Beatles. Perfect time and place to leave a police box though!” The future Doctor said to The Doctor. “A rift in Liverpool?” The Doctor asked. “A small one. I discovered it while I was investigating time slips on Bold Street,” he explained, “But the slips often seem to lead back to this particular time…” he trailed off, pondering. They arrived at the Tardis. “We won’t be long now, boys!” Rose winked at the lads. The Doctors rolled their eyes and pulled her inside. The Beatles stood in awe as the Tardis disappeared before their very eyes.


	4. Maxwell's Silver Hammer

The Doctors and Rose landed in New York City on February 9th, 1964… on the lower east side of Manhattan. “The rift, two Tardises, everyone using vortex manipulators… must’ve thrown off her navigation.” The Doctor said as he stroked the door. “Do you still do that? Stroke bits of the Tardis when you think no one’s looking?” Rose pestered the bowtied Doctor. He just smiled and continued trying to hail a cab while The Doctor began fiddling with the vortex manipulator again. “I know you probably won’t tell me, but do I do something in the future? Something bad?” She paused. “You’ve hardly looked at me since we first met, and when you do it’s like you’re looking through me.” “Rose Tyler,” he reached out his hand to touch her face, but quickly shoved it back in his jacket pocket. “I’m not still traveling with you, am I?” She knew the answer before she asked. The bowtied Doctor looked down. Just then, a cab pulled up, and The Doctor joined them. “Studio 50, FAST,” he said.

“I’ve got a more accurate reading now. The Zygons landed on the north side of Central Park, and I can only assume they’re heading toward the Ed Sullivan show. We have to make it to the studio before they do.” The Doctor explained to his future self and Rose. The cab couldn’t make it anywhere near the studio entrance. The whole area had been completely overthrown by teenagers (mostly girls) hoping to catch a glimpse of The Beatles. The Doctors and Rose leapt out of the car and began running. Both Doctors ran past the security guard with their psychic paper out. “Beatles private security!” The Doctor exclaimed. “We’re with Maxwell!” The bowtied Doctor added. “And I’m with them!” Rose called out.

Maxwell watched from stage left as the Beatles sang their first song. “All my lovin’ I will send to you…” blared over the speakers as the crowd screamed and cheered. The Doctors and Rose were only a few yards away when they realized they were too late. A Zygon had crept up right behind Maxwell. Rose spotted a toolbox a few feet away and ran to pick the first thing she felt. “MAXWELL!” She screamed as loud as she could. Maxwell turned around to see a Zygon reaching out for him and a silver hammer flying towards him. He caught the hammer and batted the Zygon right over the head with it. “Behind you!” He yelled at Rose. She turned around to see two Zygons morph into teenage girls, the perfect disguise. She ran, the Zygons followed her, and The Doctors and Maxwell followed the Zygons. Before she knew it, Rose had run onstage.

Thankfully, the camera was fixed on Paul, who had begun singing Till There Was You. She ran off the stage and crawled under the cameras toward stage right, picking up a spare microphone stand on the way, just in case. She looked behind her to see the Doctors and Maxwell holding onto the Zygons by their ankles. They had been crawling underneath the cameras too. She was just about to laugh when she heard her name. “And wonderful _roses_ they tell me…” Paul sang. She looked at him, and he nodded his head to one of the big arrows right next to him. Behind it stood a teenage girl wearing a vortex manipulator - the fourth Zygon! Noticing that the camera was still on George, she took her chance. Rose stood up and ran at the Zygon swinging the mic stand. The Zygon disappeared just as Rose would’ve made contact. She looked back at the Doctors and Maxwell. The Zygons they were holding onto had disappeared together. Bewildered, they made their way to Rose and circled back to stage left where the Zygon Maxwell hit with his hammer had already vanished too.

The Doctors groaned and pointed their sonics at the vortex manipulator once again. Rose at least got to enjoy “She Loves You” before The Doctor came to stand beside her. “1967,” He said, “I’m so sorry, but we’ve got to go.” The song ended, and The Beatles stepped offstage. “What the bloody hell is going on?” John demanded, not noticing that a crowd had gathered. “Oh, you know, uh, fangirls.” The bowtied Doctor answered. John looked around and nodded knowingly. “Did you see Maxwell with the hammer?” Ringo laughed, and the lads began reenacting the battle. “We really must be going.” The Doctor interjected. “Off again so soon?” George asked quietly. “Surely you can stay for our second set?” Paul suggested. Rose linked arms with Paul and looked at both Doctors. “You can’t possibly say no to Paul McCartney.” She stated. They both gave their best puppy dog eyes until the Doctors conceded.


	5. I'm Happy Just to Dance With You

“Well she was just seventeen…” The Beatles began their second set, and the bowtied Doctor grabbed Rose’s hand to dance. He spun her a few times then held her close. “You reminded me how to dance,” he whispered into her ear. She looked up at him. He looked so young physically, but his eyes told a different story. There were creases around them when he smiled, and, if you stared long enough, you could see they were filled with pain and heartache. “Oh, god, how old are you?” Rose’s voice cracked, “Do I die before I should?” He took her face in his hands. “No, no, you don’t. That’s one thing I don’t regret.”

The Doctor looked on, arms folded and annoyed. He cut in. “That’s enough,” he said, “my turn!” “I don’t trust him,” he whispered to Rose. “Are you daft? He’s YOU!” Rose chided. “Exactly.” The Doctor replied. “I think you might be jealous,” Rose teased. “Of chinny over there? Of myself? He’s not even ginger!” The Doctor scoffed, his voice getting higher and higher with every phrase. “Exactly,” Rose mocked.

The show ended, and it was more than time for the Doctors and Rose to go. They congratulated the lads, and started for the Tardis. While Rose attempted to hail a cab amongst the throngs of fans, The Doctor grabbed his future self’s arm. “What were you doing? You can’t tell her about her future!” “I didn’t, I just, it’s been so long. It all came back to me. How much I… we…” “Don’t say it. You know we can’t say that to her.” The bowtied Doctor nodded.

A loud whistle broke through the roar of the crowd and their combined thoughts. It was Rose. “Come on, boys!” She shouted, holding open the door of a taxi cab with one hand and fighting off girls trying to steal it from her with the other. The Doctors smiled. “Rose Tyler,” they said in unison.

Before long, they were back in the Tardis and well on their way to 1967. The Tardis landed across the street from Abbey Road studios. “Far-out.” Rose mused, using the lingo of the era. “This street is _always_ overrun with annoying tourists back home. Holding up traffic, jumping in front of buses – just for a picture! And right now it’s just a normal street!”

“Ringo!” They all cheered upon seeing him at the gate. His face could’ve been stone. “We have an emergency.” He said flatly, not at all his usual self and clearly in shock. The Doctors and Rose were rushed straight to a distraught George Martin, who downed a glass of whiskey before telling them what happened. “One of those creatures! The boys told me about them, of course, but I thought they were having a laugh or a bad trip or something.” His voice cracked as he added quietly, “Paul is dead.”


	6. With a Little Help from My Friends

The Doctors and Rose rushed into the green room followed by Ringo and George Martin. John held his childhood friend, rocking back and forth. Through his tears, he wailed over and over, “I buried Paul.” George had his arm around John, and Maxwell sat in the corner, head in a trashcan.

“What happened?” Rose asked, putting her hand on George’s arm. “We were finishing setting up while John was back here going to the loo. When we came ‘round, we saw the Zygons dragging him to the back door. Paul and Maxwell went after them. In the scuffle, Maxwell hit him. He hit him right on the head with his hammer.” “I. Didn’t. Mean. To.” Maxwell wailed in between heaves.

The Doctors looked at each other in horror. “This isn’t right; this is supposed to be a hoax.” The Doctor said to his future self. At the same time, a man with angry eyebrows wearing a sharp black coat scrambled through the back door and a man with big ears wearing a leather jacket burst through the front door. “Have any of you seen big red creatures with suckers?” yelled eyebrows. “I’ve brought nanogenes for Paul!” said big ears. Rose, quite appropriately, fainted.

When Rose came to, four men, all grinning from ear to ear, were kneeling beside her. She could only imagine that she looked like Snow White, but, instead of dwarves, she had Doctors. “There’s four of you now.” She spoke, bewildered. “9, 10, 11, and 12!” said 11 excitedly as he pointed to himselves. “We think…” 10 added. She sat up suddenly. “Paul?! Is he ok?” “Everybody lives.” 9 said to her with a wink.

“We’re going on early!” Someone called into the room. “We’re in no state to play, and Paul is still unconscious!” cried John. “Rose. Tardis key.” 10 said as he held out his hand. Rose handed him her key. He pulled out his sonic and looked at the other Doctors. They followed suit. “We need your clothes!” 12 said to the lads. Confused, but already knowing better than to ask, the Beatles handed their clothes to the Doctors. They threw on the clothes and put the keys around their necks. “How? How did ya…?” Rose could barely speak. She was still feeling dizzy and the Doctor’s tricks weren’t helping. “Perception filter. Set to McCartney!” said 10. “And Lennon.” added 9. “Harrison!” called out 12. “Starr for me!” chuckled 11. Rose fainted again.

Rose woke to the sound of music, a very familiar song. “All you need is love…” they were singing, but it wasn’t being performed by The Beatles. It couldn’t be, because the Beatles were sitting right next to her, laughing and cutting up… in their pants. Paul noticed she was awake first. “Hello, hello!” he teased. “Almost goodbye for you wasn’t it?” She taunted back. “I’ll be here ‘til I’m 64 at least!” He laughed.

The Beatles cheered when The Doctors entered the room, each one hugging their counterpart. “Oy, that’s a bit off,” Rose said, looking at 10 and Paul standing next to each other. “What, what’s wrong?” He asked, patting himself down. “The ears… or maybe the teeth… it’s off just a bit, but I can’t place it.” The Doctor pulled off his key and pointed the sonic screwdriver at it. “The calibration was off the whole time!” He groaned. “Oh, I’m sure no one noticed.” Rose tutted. 10 glanced at the other doctors sheepishly. He scratched the back of his head. “Let’s hope not,” He shrugged.

“Ding, ding, ding!” A sound was coming from 12’s coat, which was in a pile of Doctor clothes on the floor. He grabbed it quickly. “The Zygons I was tracking! They’ve gone to Liverpool. July 6, 1957?” “That doesn’t make any sense. That’s backward in the timeline!” 11 remarked. “Think,” said 9, looking at the lads, “Does that date mean anything to you?” John looked at Paul. “The day we met.” They whispered in unison. “We’ve got to go,” 10 concluded.

They ran outside to find three Tardises parked right next to each other. Rose huffed and shook her head. “We can’t take all three at once. We’ll cause a rift in time!” 9 commanded. “Wait!” Rose shouted, “We have to! That must be how it gets there!” 11 nodded, “If I didn’t have a rift to charge on, I wouldn’t be here now.” They each made for the Tardis in which they arrived, except for Rose. 9, 10, and 11 looked on in astonishment as she headed straight for 12’s Tardis. She stopped at the door and turned around. “What? He’s redecorated! I want to see!” 12 raised his eyebrows and shrugged at his former selves.


	7. Come Together

“Prepare for a rough landing!” 12 yelled at Rose over the horrendous sounds the Tardis was making. The Tardis jerked and jolted until finally coming to a stop. Rose and 12 started for the door, but, before he could open it, she grabbed him by the elbow. “I just want to know one thing, yeah?” 12 nodded. “You’re so much older. I can see it in your eyes. Do you… do you still remember me?” she asked. “How could I forget Rose Tyler?” He answered incredulously and awkwardly patted her on the head.

They stepped out of the Tardis and found the other three doctors stumbling out of theirs. “We have to be very careful,” 10 explained, “If Paul or John sees us here and now, it will affect the future.” “Right, we’ve already caused a rift today. Let’s not cause a time loop, shall we?” 9 agreed. “Sh. Sh. Listen.” 11 said quietly. They could hear the unmistakable sound of John Lennon singing. His voice was so young and raw and the music terribly amateur, but the talent was there. They began walking away from the music, just to be safe, when Rose suddenly stopped all of them. A very young Paul walked right past them, in a trance, following the music. “That was too close. We need to hurry.” 12 commanded.

They followed as 12 led the way with his tracking device into St. Peter Church graveyard. Next to a grave marked Eleanor Rigby sat the Zygons. For a split second, Rose thought they looked sad and defeated, but they leapt into attack formation when they noticed the Doctors approaching. All four Doctors pulled out their sonics and pointed them at the four Zygons.

“You’re trapped.” “No chance of escape.” “Explain yourselves.” “What are you doing here?” said 9, 10, 11, and 12 respectively. “And why the Beatles?” added Rose. One Zygon hissed, “We came back to fix it.” The next one added, “We didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” “What do you mean you didn’t mean to hurt anyone?” 11 asked. “You’ve chased the Beatles their whole career, you nearly got Paul killed, and you’ve made us create a time rift!” 10 chuffed. “Nearly?” The third Zygon wheezed, “He’s alive?” “I saved him.” 9 said, puffing out his chest. The Zygons looked visibly relieved, further confusing the Doctors and Rose.

The fourth Zygon finally explained in full. “We heard it. The song called to us from far, far away – Across the Universe. Such a beautiful ballad. And then we found more from your Sirius satellites! There were so many, each one more beautiful than the last. We learned all the songs. We studied anything we could gather from the primitive technology of this planet. No one on Zygor understood. We aren’t an artistic species. Everyone on our planet disagreed when we first spoke of taking this voyage, so we snuck away. We had to come to earth to hear the music, and to become The Beatles.”

“But you can’t become the Beatles! That’s like trying to become Beethoven! The Beatles change music history forever!” shouted 12. “He’s right. We can’t allow you to do that.” 9 concluded. “That would change too many fixed points in time.” 10 added. “They’re very big on fixed points in time.” 11 chuckled, shoving an elbow into Rose.

“But we have disowned our planet for this mission, this dream.” The first Zygon lamented. “Must we stay here in misery?” The next Zygon questioned. “We have failed.” The last one spoke. All four Zygons sighed, looking tired and glum. The Doctors were silent, each one deep in thought, trying to work out the best possible solution for these musical refugees.

“Oh!!! Oh oh oh!!!” Rose cried “I have an idea!!!” Doctors and Zygons alike turned to face her. “My mum, you see, she used to date this bloke. Proper idiot he was, but he was an Elvis impersonator!” The Doctors ruffled their collective brows at her, failing to comprehend. She explained further, “They could do that but as the Beatles! You know, like, tribute bands!” All at once, their faces lit up. “Fantastic!” “Brilliant! “Geronimo!” hollered 9, 10, and 11. They all looked at 12. “Oh, um, allonsy?” “Oi, that one’s mine!” 10 laughed. “To the 21st century!” 9 called out. “Last one there is a rotten egg!” 11 responded. Everyone (even the Zygons) rolled their eyes.


	8. Ticket to Ride

The Doctors took the Zygons to 21st century Liverpool. They landed across from the Hard Day’s Night hotel right in the middle of International Beatle Week. “Perfect! You can show us your stuff!” 12 declared excitedly, “I even have instruments!” The Zygons quickly morphed into The Beatles. “That’s too perfect,” said 10, mussing up his hair. “People will notice.” “You need to look like them only not exactly.” 11 tried to explain. The Zygons nodded. Ringo made his nose smaller, George straightened his teeth, John fattened his face, and Paul made his eyes more almond shaped. “Better!” Rose laughed. 12 reappeared with perfect replicas of The Beatles’ instruments, and they started for the hotel. 9 flashed his psychic paper at the stage manager. “Bit of a change in the line-up. They’re called Across the Universe.”

From their first note, The Doctors and Rose could tell that the Zygons had indeed done their homework. They won the crowd over in just one song and had them singing and dancing for their entire set. The crowd begged for an encore. “We’d like to dedicate this song to Rose. We wouldn’t be here without her!” Zygon John announced.

The Doctors decided it was time to go, but not before confiscating the vortex manipulators, leaving the Zygons with a list of rules, and pulling a few strings to get them a recurring gig entertaining tourists at the Cavern Club. The Doctors and Rose walked down a few streets, listening to the music as it flowed throughout the city. “My Tardis!” The 11th Doctor shouted, “She’ll be charged by now! 50 years on a rift!” "What a day! Four Zygons, four Doctors, four Beatles, and now four Tardises!” Rose recapped. “Speaking of, we should check in on those lads. Let them know we’ve got it sorted.” He paused. “Fancy being in a music video?”


	9. The Long and Winding Road

The Doctors and Rose arrived outside Twickenham Film Studios just in time for taping. “Hello boys!” Rose called out to the Beatles, waving furiously. “Rose!” Paul shouted back. “And The Doctors!” John exclaimed. “That’s a good name for a band.” Ringo mused. “What happened to those creatures?” George asked. “We took care of them.” The Doctors answered in unison. “Can we watch the taping?” Rose interjected excitedly, batting her eyes. “Of course!” This time the lads answered in unison.

“Naaa naaa naaa na-na-na-na na-na-na-na Hey Jude!” 10 had his arm around Rose as they swayed back and forth singing along. She looked up at him and smiled lovingly. Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand and spun her around. “I’m cutting in, pretty boy.” 9 said, clapping 10 on the shoulder. “Do you really like _him_?” He asked, visibly offended. “For god’s sake, he’s YOU!” Rose declared. 9 squirmed. “You know what I think?” she paused, “I think you need a Rose.” She plucked a rose out of a nearby hippie’s headband, opened his jacket, and tucked it into the inner pocket. Then she grabbed the leather lapels and properly snogged him, channeling her inner Cassandra. 10, 11, and 12 whipped around as the kiss flooded their memories. She whispered in his ear “you’ll understand that a bit more later.” She directed her attention to all of them, “When will you lot get it? I love The Doctor past, present, and future.” 11 and 12 looked at each other and excused themselves for a moment. Rose stood in between 9 and 10 and listened to the rest of the song while holding both of their hands.

The song ended, and the Doctors began saying their goodbyes to The Beatles. Rose looked at them sadly, knowing what would happen in just the blink of an eye. After all, it was 1968. She said goodbye and turned to leave, but she looked back. “Let it be,” She directed at John and Paul. She hurried to catch up with the Doctors as they walked toward their Tardies. “Ding, ding, ding! An alien life form has been detected,” said a computerized voice. “That’s odd,” muttered 12. He pulled out his tracking device just as a woman with long black hair wearing an enormous white hat walked past him. He looked at his device, then at her, and finally at his former selves. All their eyes grew wide. “Yikes,” he muttered, “an adventure for another day perhaps.”

Rose said her goodbyes to 11 and 12 first. “It was nice to meet you anyway, even though I’m long gone by the time you’re you,” Rose deduced. “We have a present for you.” 11 piped up. It was a piece of psychic paper. Rose looked at them, befuddled. “It will say what it needs to say when it needs to say it.” 12 explained. Rose just nodded and hugged them both. There were some things about the Doctor that never changed.

She took a very long last look at 9 before she spoke. “I thought I’d never see that face again,” she sighed as she touched his cheek, “Where are you off to now?” “To pick you up of course. I dropped you off for your mum’s birthday party, remember?” Rose nodded and smiled. Even after traveling with The Doctor for so long now, there were always new surprises. She hugged him tight and breathed him in. With one last peck on the cheek, he was off.

Rose and The Doctor started for his Tardis. “You sod! You told me you couldn’t change back,” she nudged him teasingly. He put his arm around her and said with a wink, “Where to Rose Tyler? Past, present or future?”

 

 

 

 

 

Epilogue     Do You Want to Know a Secret:

Rose Tyler laid in her bed surrounded by snapshots of a very long life. A slim (and a little bit foxy) man stood by her side in almost all of them. Their life together had clearly been full of adventure, happiness, and love. A young man held her hand. He looked almost exactly like the man in the pictures. “Gran, that piece of paper you always carry with you. It’s glowing.” He handed it to her. Her eyes fluttered and focused. “P.S. I love you.” She smiled and took her last breath.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspirations: The Beatles, their music, and their history. My love of maps of the places I've visited. John Lennon's lucky number 9. Paul is Dead theory. Photo of man that looks like Matt Smith with The Beatles. Time slip experiences in Liverpool.
> 
> Special thanks to: Elizabeth and Nichole


End file.
